Player of the Year Update -- Mohsin Charania and David Baker Make MovesA Look At The Events That Most Affected The 2012 POY Race This Week |
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A number of major moves were made around the world this week in the 2012 Card Player Player of the Year race, sponsored by Lock Poker. Here’s a look at the players who made the biggest moves this week.
WPT Grand Prix de Paris
A total of 228 players turned out for the €7,500 ($9,442) buy-in World Poker Tour Grand Prix de Paris main event, building a $2,045,223 prize pool. The lion’s share of that went to eventual champion Matthew Salsberg, who was awarded $478,415 and 768 POY points for the win.
Salsberg topped a tough final table of recognizable names, including runner-up and former champion of this event Theo Jorgensen (2nd – $333,128), Philipp Gruissem (3rd – $214,109) and two POY contenders in Tim Adams and Mohsin Charania.
Adams won his first World Series of Poker bracelet this summer when he took down the inaugural $2,500 buy-in four-max no-limit hold’em event for $392,476. For his fourth place finish in this event he earned $158,349 and 384 POY points, which helped him climb to 41st place in the overall standings.
Even higher up in the POY rankings sits Mohsin Charania, who finished fifth for $121,987 and 320 POY points. Charania won one of the year’s largest events in the European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monte Carlo for more than $1.7 million and 2,100 POY points. As a result of these two sizable scores, Charania now sits in 14th place in the standings with 2,420 points.
Heartland Poker Tour Black Hawk Colorado
The Golden Gates Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado once again played host to the $1,650 Mile High Poker Open main event this week, drawing 739 players to build a $1,108,995 prize pool.
Wyoming rancher Mike Harris emerged victorious, earning $245,078 and 912 POY points, but as far as the POY race is concerned, the biggest news was David Baker’s sixth place finish. This was Katy, Texas native’s fifth final table finish of the year, including a win in the $2,500 WSOP eight-game mix event.
For the deep run in this HPT event Baker earned $47,130 and 304 points, which catapulted him into ninth place in the overall standings. His year-to-date earnings are now in excess of $700,000.
Here is a look at the top twenty of the 2012 POY race:
Rank | Player | POY Points | Earnings |
1 | Dan Smith | 4,625 | $3,538,078 |
2 | Kyle Julius | 3,752 | $2,103,282 |
3 | Marvin Rettenmaier | 3,272 | $1,872,791 |
4 | Oliver Speidel | 3,046 | $1,767,371 |
5 | Anthony Gregg | 2,984 | $1,004,155 |
6 | Ole Schemion | 2,956 | $1,663,559 |
7 | Vadzim Kursevich | 2,717 | $1,355,584 |
8 | Joe Kuether | 2,716 | $548,411 |
9 | David Baker | 2,689 | $700,386 |
10 | Phil Ivey | 2,635 | $3,546,334 |
11 | John Dibella | 2,512 | $1,781,418 |
12 | Daniel Kelly | 2,508 | $766,317 |
13 | Davidi Kitai | 2,474 | $1,039,657 |
14 | Mohsin Charania | 2,420 | $1,904,899 |
15 | Sean Jazayeri | 2,368 | $1,423,911 |
16 | Faraz Jaka | 2,360 | $899,277 |
17 | Brendon Rubie | 2,352 | $482,480 |
18 | Jonathan Duhamel | 2,320 | $1,379,402 |
19 | Michael Mizrachi | 2,270 | $1,945,790 |
20 | Max Steinberg | 2,250 | $733,728 |